Students get glimpse of law enforcement careers at first-ever ‘Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy’ in New Haven

Published
6:38 pm EDT, Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Charlie Grady, spokersperson for the FBI in New Haven, speaks to participants in the first-ever Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy, held at Yale University.

Charlie Grady, spokersperson for the FBI in New Haven, speaks to participants in the first-ever Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy, held at Yale University.

Photo: Anna Bisaro — New Haven Register

Photo: Anna Bisaro — New Haven Register

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Charlie Grady, spokersperson for the FBI in New Haven, speaks to participants in the first-ever Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy, held at Yale University.

Charlie Grady, spokersperson for the FBI in New Haven, speaks to participants in the first-ever Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy, held at Yale University.

Photo: Anna Bisaro — New Haven Register

Students get glimpse of law enforcement careers at first-ever ‘Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy’ in New Haven

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN >> The culprit behind an anonymous threat posted on social media can be identified in a matter of hours, according to staff operations analysts at the FBI.

In a seminar Wednesday morning, participants in the first-ever “Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy,” learned from specialists how the Federal Bureau of Investigation can track criminals, and prevent or even solve crimes.

“We really get to be involved in the way the case evolves,” said Chris Earley, a staff operations specialist for the FBI in New Haven.

This career path, he added, is becoming more popular for those who want to be in law enforcement and aid in solving crimes, but don’t want to carry a gun.

“I think one of the best things about this job is that it’s something different every day,” Earley said. “It keeps you on your toes, which is fun.”

This seminar was just one of many classes students took part in throughout the weeklong program designed to give them a look inside different aspects of law enforcement.

Throughout the Tuesday morning session, campers learned about what intel analysis looks like at the FBI, but more specifically, they were exposed to what the bureau’s Social Media Exploitation Team does.

Social media analysis started to become a regular part of case investigations a number of years ago, as agents began to realize how much it was being utilized by the general public, but criminals, in particular, to aid in their activity. From gang members to terrorists to sexual predators to spies, everyone is on social media, Earley said.

While social media posts and information may not actually contain content that warrants an arrest, social media and online profiles can help confirm suspects’ identities.

“Our main goal is to put bad guys in jail and social media helps us do that,” Earley said.

Even the seemingly anonymous applications can be used to track down suspects, he added.

The campers also offered information to the analysts about applications they had not heard of before, such as After School App, an application designed for students to post information that is shared with those who are also at their school. Some said the application sometimes is used to facilitate drug deals among peers.

“Every application is intended for good, fun things, but every criminal out there will exploit them,” said Sean Connolly, the other staff operations specialist who spoke Wednesday.

Toward the end of the presentation, Connolly encouraged the students to be thoughtful about their own social media usage to protect themselves, their home addresses, and sensitive identifying information.

“You never know who might be looking at you,” he said.

Intel analysis was just one part of the campers’ experiences Wednesday. Before the presentation, an FBI agent the students had never met created a disturbance in their classroom and they were asked to write witness statements about the event several hours later.

It was an exercise to show that eyewitness accounts cannot always be reliable, according to Charlie Grady, spokesperson for the FBI New Haven office.

Later Wednesday, campers heard from assistant U.S. attorneys about the differences between state and federal prosecutions.

Also on Wednesday, Grady said, students were tasked with coming up with a set of protocols for state and local police after they arrest and detain a transgender individual. Grady said the exercises were to get them thinking about current issues and how those apply to law enforcement.

More than 160 high school students between the ages of 15 and 18 applied to participate in the camp, and in the end, 26 were selected, representing seven counties in the state. The students will graduate from the program Friday.